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While we haven’t 100 percent confirmed it yet (update: we’ve confirmed with a source), what you see above is what we do very much believe to be a picture of Google’s latest social foray. Yes, it’s the artist formerly known as “Google Me”, then known as “Emerald Sea“, and now known as “Google +1“

As you can see, it’s a toolbar that exists along the top of Google’s properties — in this case, Google News. There’s a Share button, a place for a Google account icon, and a Google username. Next to it is a numerical count — it’s not clear what this is for just yet. (Maybe a share count?) And next to that is an options menu.

One other important thing to note: the “Loop” area in the left side toolbar links. This is exactly in-line with what we’ve reported so far about Google +1 — namely that a key part of it is based around “loops”, which seems to be Google’s word for “groups”. Loop is also what we’ve heard an iPhone app in testing is being called.

We’ve reached out to Google for comment on this image, but have yet to hear back. We’ll update if and when we do.

Update from Google (that was quick!):

“We’re always experimenting with new ways to improve our products, and we have already confirmed that we are focused on incorporating social elements across Google. But we have nothing new to announce at this time.”

Amazon Price Check is the one app that can conduct a product search using practically every method available. If you’re comfortable only looking to Amazon for the best price, it’s an incredibly versatile price checking app. More »

It doesn’t seem like everyone’s jumped on the cord cutting bandwagon just yet, as the 2010 “Media Engagement Barometer” conducted by Vanson Bourne for Motorola surveyed 7,500 consumers in 13 countries (1,000 in the US) before issuing its findings that 86 percent of Americans subscribe to pay TV providers and 6% are using video/TV on the internet, even while free OTA TV is available. And those 3D TVs that are everywhere? Worldwide, they figured 75 percent of viewers either own or plan to own an HDTV in the next 18 months, while 4% currently own 3D sets, 25 percent indicated they plan to upgrade to one in the same time period. US stats pegged 59 percent of respondents with HDTVs, 20 percent with an internet enabled set and 25 percent with a smartphone. Other results indicate we haven’t seen the last of the Twitter widget on our TVs and set-top boxes either, with 58 percent of responses showing people have used social media during a TV broadcast and would switch providers to have it integrated in their TV service. Check out the press release after the break and PDF fact sheet for more statistical breakdowns while we figure out exactly what this means for any a la carte TV dreams.

Cybercrime experts have found proof that China hijacked the Internet for 18 minutes last April. China absorbed 15% of the traffic from US military and civilian networks, as well as from other Western countries—a massive chunk. Nobody knows why.

We know how it happened, however. On April 8, China Telecom’s routers sent messages declaring that their network channels were the fastest available at that point. Since the traffic routing is based on trust between the world’s telecommunication providers, other Internet routers redirected their traffic through China’s network.

Security expert Dmitri Alperovitch—VP of threat research at McAfee—says that this happens “accidentally” a few times a year, but this time it was different: The China Telecom network absorbed all the data and returned it without any significant delay. Before, this kind of accident would have resulted in communication problems, which lead experts to believe this wasn’t an accident but a deliberated attempt to capture as much data as possible.

As of why this happened, nobody knows. Alperovitch added that the Chinese could have captured and manipulated data passing through their network:

This is one of the biggest – if not the biggest hijacks – we have ever seen. What happened to the traffic while it was in China? No one knows. Imagine the capability and capacity that is built into their networks. I’m not sure there was anyone else in the world who could have taken on that much traffic without breaking a sweat.

While the US government says that this is not alarming, it’s certainly puzzling. It doesn’t make sense for China Telecom to act in this extraordinary way without an specific objective. Perhaps it wasn’t a malicious move, but it certainly seems like a test to its network power. In any case, it seems like it can happen again at any time.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel comfortable with the idea of China hijacking such a massive amount of information without explanation. [National Defense Magazine]

Just in time for the total economic collapse of Europe and the rise of the cyber-nomadic tribes, the kids at Discover, Barclaycard, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon have a name for their mobile phone-based payment system: Isis. Essentially it remains what we heard from Bloomberg a few months back: a system for using an app on your phone to send payments to a POS system using NFC technology. The Isis team thinks it has “the scope and scale necessary to introduce mobile commerce on a broad basis,” and we wish them the best. But we know how it all ends anyways: with the lucky among us dead, and the rest of us living in caves, hiding from death-dealing robots, and bartering for what we can’t scrounge from the ruins of our once-great cities. PR after the break.

Digital Consigliere

Dr. Augustine Fou is Digital Consigliere to marketing executives, advising them on digital strategy and Unified Marketing(tm). Dr Fou has over 17 years of in-the-trenches, hands-on experience, which enables him to provide objective, in-depth assessments of their current marketing programs and recommendations for improving business impact and ROI using digital insights.